The Power of Your One Sentence

That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. – Neil Armstrong

If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

CopyDoodles create great copywriting results, without having to be a great copywriter. – Mike Capuzzi

Each of the above three sentences illustrates a powerful concept which can help you create an important profit asset in your business, and if I may be so bold as to put myself on the same level as Neil Armstrong and Dr. King, I want to share a simple and effective marketing tip.

We, as business owners and marketers, often spend too long getting to the point, because we spend too little time determining what the main point is.

Yet, in our fast-paced, short-attention span world, we must be clear and concise to achieve our goals, which is to get attention of a specific type of person and get them to take action.

Yet in this day and age of mass digital media and instant distractions, people who tackle urgent, important issues, do not have time to waste.

As French author Blaise Pascal wrote in 1657, “I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.”

Re-read that quote again, because it’s powerful.

Developing a short, concise and powerful message is no easy task and it takes much more effort to create it, then to bloviate and spew everything you know about your product or service.

This is an important lesson I constantly preach to private clients: often less can be more.

Is a two hour webinar really necessary, if you can get your message across effectively in 45 minutes?

When you ramble or fail to give a clear sense of direction to your message, you turn people off and any money invested to get their initial attention is wasted. Simplicity, if it is clear and compelling, is power.

Consider Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It lasted three minutes and 75% of Lincoln’s words were one syllable. Interestingly, Lincoln delivered his famous, almost poetic speech, after Edward Everett, considered to be the country’s best orator at the time, had spoken for two hours.

No one remembers Everett’s speech.

What is Your One Sentence?

Recently I came across a book you may want to add to your library. It’s Mimi Goss’s “What Is Your One Sentence?”

Goss does a decent job of declaring the importance of having laser-focused, “one sentences” about you, your business, your products and your services. While smart marketers understand the value of unique selling propositions and unique value propositions, I found this book to offer a different slant on a topic I already understood.

My only “issue” with her book is that it doesn’t offer a lot of business-oriented one sentence examples, however if you struggle with being able to clearly and succinctly articulate your messages, I would recommend getting this book and using Goss’ exercises to create your own one sentences.

To offer you a quick glimpse, here are Mimi’s 12 Components of a Memorable One Sentence:

Defines the essence of your whole message

Inspires dialogue

Is about people and for people

Includes action or a new way of looking at a topic

Captures your message’s inherent drama, power or wit

Is directed towards achieving your goals

Takes into consideration your desired audience members’ goals

Enhances your message, because it helps you and your audience focus on your message’s key point

Highlights your message’s special, inspiring value

Has a style authentic to you or your organization

Uses concrete examples that people can visualize or is poetic and soaring

Is easy to understand and ideally, to remember

After reading the book, I immediately looked at some of my current marketing efforts and went back and wrapped a “one sentence” around them. I think you will find it a profitable exercise for your business too. You can find Mimi’s book on Amazon.com and I am giving away one copy this week.

To be eligible, simply post your ONE SENTENCE about your product, service or business below. I will pick one winner and post the winner next Monday. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Mike Randall for his pithy one sentence. Your copy of the book is in the mail!

About Mike Capuzzi

I'm a speaker, author and high impact marketing strategist for business owners and sharp, aggressive entrepreneurs looking to get to the next level in their business.
I'm also the the inventor of the world-famous CopyDoodles. CopyDoodles are the world's largest library of handwritten fonts, hand-drawn doodles, comics and more designed to grab attention and boost your marketing results!

By the way, Mike…the timing of this exercise could not have come at a better time. I got up at 3am to read your email from yesterday then tweak a mail piece JUST IN CASE THERE WAS A GOLDEN NUGGET INSIDE and this was a missing element I know will make a difference.

[…] In today’s attention-deficit world, getting to the point as quickly as possible is necessary and marketers who make their point quickly and effectively stand a much greater chance of having their message read or heard (and responded to). I have written about the power of your ONE sentence here. […]